Sheikh Khalid Al Qassimi

Fast Facts:

Why support him?

His astonishing finishing record – no retirements at all in 2007 and 2008

He drives a customised 1000bhp Toyota Land Cruiser at home in Abu Dhabi

Won Rally Sweden’s ‘Colin’s Crest’ award in 2008 for jumping his Ford 36 metres

Career highlights:

Career summary:

Sheikh Khalid Al Qassimi’s first contact with rallying came early in his life when he competed in a local rally aboard a Land Rover Discovery. His rally career started at full pace in 2002 when he embarked on a programme in the Middle East Rally Championship, winning the FIA MERC Group N Cup and also the United Arab Emirates Rally Championship that same season. Khalid returned to competition in 2004 to claim the outright MERC title. The same year he made his debut in the World Rally Championship, finishing fourth in the Group N category in Greece.

During the following two seasons he finished second and third in the MERC, while also competing in several rounds of the WRC in a Group N car including driving in the Quasys P-WRC team in Cyprus in 2006 and finishing 3rd in this championship category.

Al Qassimi started 2007 with high hopes of a full WRC programme with Mitsubishi in a Lancer World Rally Car but the project fell through. However his season was resurrected mid-season when he was signed to the newly formed BP-Ford Abu Dhabi World Rally Team. After four rallies that year he tackled a ten round season in 2008, finishing every time and achieving a best result of ninth on Rally Jordan. Al Qassimi is back in the factory Ford team for 2009 and could well surprise on some of the rallies he has tackled before.